A fire that broke out in a panel beater’s shed in Sunshine has destroyed ten cars, including a rare collector’s edition Commodore.
The fire also blanketed the suburb in such dense smoke that nearby residents were warned to stay indoors and keep their windows and doors shut.
Seven Metropolitan Fire Brigade fire trucks were called to Hampton Avenue on Sunday afternoon after the fire broke out in an iron shed containing a backyard panel beating business.
MFB spokesman Trevor Woodward said the business owner, a man aged in his 60s, was using welding equipment when a spark ignited the shed around 12.14pm.
“He was very lucky to notice it and got out before the whole workshop went up, as the fire very quickly escalated,” he said.
Twenty-seven firefighters took 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control and managed to save a weatherboard house located just metres away at the front of the property.
The fire caused an estimated $300,000 in damage as the shed and ten cars contained within it were extensively damaged, Mr Woodward said.
One of the cars destroyed in the fire was a collectors edition Commodore of which only 50 are reportedly left in Australia.
While no one was injured in the blaze, a family member who arrived at the scene during the height of the blaze collapsed. She was taken to hospital in a stable condition having suffered a suspected stroke.
– with Allison Worrall
This story first appeared in The Age
